Wolverine Watch: Michigan falls flat in a frosty finale

The Big House frosted over when Ohio State came to town, just like many hoped. But the biggest chill came from the Buckeyes themselves, who clamped down on Michigan defensively and left with a 27-9 win.

The Wolverines delivered brief hope, an early interception and field goals by senior placekicker Dominic Zvada producing a 6-3 lead by the home team. But when the undefeated, No. 1-ranked Buckeyes got rolling, the lead and the hope for yet another stunner over OSU disappeared like wispy snowflakes drifting in front of a propane heat blower.

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Wolverines dominated
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Looking for a stirring upset? Pop in the 2024 videotape. This one went just like the scarlet demons drew it up.

“Not good, right?” Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore said. “It stings. Everybody stings. You sting for the seniors, you sting for the program. When you’re in this 24/7, when you’re in this 365, this hurts. You work tirelessly to be successful. It’s not just about me. It’s really about the kids.”

Moore summed up the whys succinctly.

“We didn’t execute in the red zone, which ended up being the story of the game,” he said. “In the second half, [it was] not being able to get in a rhythm offensively. They did a good job. Credit to them. There’s no excuse for it. We’ve got to be much better. They outplayed us today.”

Passing on the pass game

Michigan couldn’t throw effectively all day. For the most part, the Wolverines chose not to try. After just 5 first-half passing attempts, freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood wound up 8-for-18 for 63 yards, with an interception. Forget the elements here. OSU quarterback Justin Sayin — following the early pickoff — dialed up 19-for-26 for 233 yards and 3 touchdowns.

With sophomore running back Jordan Marshall departing in the first quarter via injury with 61 yards on 7 carries, the Buckeyes overwhelmed the Wolverines in total yardage, 419-163. Michigan simply went nowhere on offense after intermission — 39 total yards in 6:20 of possession time — ending its four-game winning streak over Ohio State with a thud.

The Wolverines couldn’t run the ball, and then couldn’t stop OSU’s running game. Once the flurries began to cover the field, the Buckeyes cranked out scoring drives of 87 and 81 yards, the latter chewing up 11:56 off the clock.

“We’ll look at the film and see what it was, but you know we don’t want this feeling again,” Moore said. “It’s 364 days a year, you figure out ways to win this game … we’ve got to regroup and try to get 10 wins. That’d be huge. It would be huge to get 10 wins for this team, starting six freshmen, redshirt freshmen and true freshmen.”

Crushed after early hope

They all got an introduction to the rivalry they won’t soon forget.

The middle two quarters crushed Michigan’s chances. Its 6-3 lead heading into the second quarter became buried like a skier in an avalanche over the following 30 minutes of football. The Buckeyes took the lead on a 35-yard bomb to OSU’s Jeremiah Smith, whom replays showed was bobbling the football across the goal line and out of bounds.

No matter. A second look left replay officials unmoved, and the Buckeyes led 10-6 — an advantage they never surrendered. They made it 17-9 at the half with a crushing 11-play, 87-yard drive, capped by an easy 4-yard touchdown completion to Brandon Inniss.

Michigan’s best quarter all year has been the third — until this one. An 11-yard (no misprint) punt set the Buckeyes up on their own 43-yard line. Two plays later, Sayin unleashed a 50-yard bomb down the middle to an unguarded Carnell Tate.

Michigan in a no-comeback bind

With the snow starting to stick on the Michigan Stadium surface, the Wolverines found themselves frozen out of the comeback zone — down 15, with 6 completions and 56 yards in a nearly non-existent passing game through three quarters.

The best hope for Moore’s crew? Grab an early lead, then hope for a second Snow Bowl. Instead, they just got left in the cold.

“It’s really hard,” grad center Greg Crippen noted, regarding seeing his record drop to 4-1 in the series. “This is my fifth one. I won the last four. When you lose the last one, it feels like it stings a lot more. It’s hard to explain. Winning the last four was unbelievable. Losing this last one is something I’m going to feel forever — which is not good.”

Just not enough

There will be plenty of time to figure out whether win No. 10 — if it comes — can soothe any of the pain from seeing the streak snapped, College Football Playoff hopes crushed, and the outside chance of a Big Ten title shoveled away with the snow. Michigan will experience an entire winter of rumination about the foundation laid this year, how it can move forward, and the missing parts — whether through injury or just a plain performance shortage — it needs to address.

But on this frigid afternoon at Michigan Stadium, one thing mattered. The Wolverines had a chance, and it didn’t last long. They faced a better team, and unlike last year, the results confirmed it. That in itself put a little more bite into a 29-degree breeze as they trudged away.